Who knew we would ever see a chef have to leave before the first challenge was over? But sadly, on Wednesday night's premiere of Top Chef Masters, chef Missy Robbins cut her finger to the point that she had to leave the competition to get surgery. She didn't want to "pull a Jamie" (as I call it) and go to the hospital. She wanted to just tape it up and keep cooking, which is a testament to her dedication. But in the end, no one could blame her for packing her knives.
Still, I caught up with Missy to talk about what happened. Check it out!
Ology: Hi Missy! It sucked seeing you go out like that... how did you feel?
Missy: Like a total loser (laughs). I was obviously not very happy about it. It was a big decision to decide to go on this show in the first place; it’s not necessarily my comfort zone, the whole competitors cooking on TV thing. I don’t know if this is in anyone’s real comfort zone, but it’s definitely not in my comfort zone. And I geared myself up, and I was psyched to be there. By the time I got there I started to do that, and the first episode was very disappointing.
It’s almost like you would rather go out on a bad dish...
I don’t know, actually (laughs).
Really?
I’m not sure. I met a lot of people that said, "At least you weren’t kicked off."
That’s true. Will we see you back at some point?
I don’t know. I haven’t been asked—obviously on the show they said, "You’re welcome back anytime," but I haven’t been formally asked, and honestly I’ve been really focused on my restaurant lately, and obviously for several months making sure my finger was OK. I haven't been giving it a lot of thought.
So how is your finger? Did you have surgery?
I did (laughs). I had a skin graft the day after I got home, which, for a little pinky, is a pretty major surgery and was in a cast—not a cast, it was wrapped up pretty large for a tiny little pinky. I was out of work for two weeks and then out of the kitchen—I mean I was at work but I was not doing much in the kitchen for another month. And then I had a full month of physical therapy and it was kind of a pain in the ass.
Was that the worst injury you’ve ever gotten?
Absolutely! I’ve never even gotten something close to that. I’ve been cooking for twenty years and not even close. I didn’t understand how bad it was when it first happened.
Right. It seemed like you brushed it off pretty quickly.
I did until [the producers] were like, "Oh my god, get a paramedic in here!"
Yeah, I was going to ask you: were the producers like "You have to go home?"
No. No one would tell me what to do; it was completely my decision. Even the doctors—I didn’t really want to listen to the doctors, but they all say I really needed to surgery and they highly suggested it, and I really wanted to figure out a way to stay. By the time I talked to three doctors between New York to Vegas, it seemed like the smart thing to do was to get surgery—so I did.
Yeah, I don’t think anyone blamed you. You were there for such a short period of time, but did you get to have fun? Did you get close to anybody?
Yeah! It was a great experience; it was actually super fun. It’s definitely intimidating, but it’s really fun, and I knew some of the people before, but I definitely—Sue Torres lives in New York and I didn’t know her very well, so it was cool to get to know her, and Kerra Heffernan, and Chris Cosentino; and I said this in a bunch of interviews, but Patricia Yeo, when I was a young cook I wanted to work for her. So to be on the same show as her, playing next to her was pretty cool.
So who do you think has the best shot at winning? Who are you rooting for now?
I’m rooting for all of them. They are all really good people, and honestly, they could not have been nicer to me. I mean, it’s a sort of a testament to our industry that everyone is really cool; I can tell you that watching Chris Consinteno in the time that I was there, which was very short—and I’m not saying this because I’m friends with him—he’s pretty amazing to watch in the kitchen, and he’s got a pretty incredible competitive spirit. And he’s got a pretty incredibly way of moving in a kitchen.
Were you sad to see Missy go? Let us know in the comments!
---
Follow on Ology: Sharon Tharp | TVOlogy
Follow on Twitter: @sharontharp | @TVOlogy
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment!